More than 500 LA City Fire Department Employees File FLSA Lawsuit

A group of more than 500 Los Angeles firefighters, captains, engineers, fire inspectors, and pilots filed have filed a class action lawsuit alleging that the city fails to include longevity pay, wellness bonuses, retirement incentive pay, special duty pay, platoon duty pay, and educational bonuses in their regular rate of pay in violation of the FLSA. The FLSA requires “all remuneration for employment paid to, or on behalf of, the employee” included in the regular rate of pay. FLSA also requires that all federally mandated overtime be at least time and one-half of the employee’s regular rate. As you can see, failure to include incentives, bonuses, and stipends in an employee’s regular rate results in short-changing that employee’s overtime rate.  

Quoting from the complaint (citations omitted):

Plaintiffs are represented for the purposes of collective bargaining by the International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 112, which is party to a collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”) with the City of Los Angeles governing the terms and conditions of Plaintiffs’ employment, including their hourly wage rate and entitlement to certain other types of remuneration, including but not limited to: Longevity Pay, Wellness Bonuses, Retirement Incentive Pay, Special Duty and Platoon Duty Pay, and Educational Bonuses.

In addition to the hourly rate agreed upon by the parties in the CBA, the regular rate used for the purpose of calculating the amount of overtime due and owing to Plaintiffs must also include applicable Longevity Pay, Wellness Bonuses, Retirement Incentive Pay, Special Duty and Platoon Duty Pay, and Educational Bonuses, none of which are excludable from the regular rate by Section 7(e)(1-8) of the Act.

Los Angeles does not include applicable Longevity Pay, Wellness Bonuses, Retirement Incentive Pay, Special Duty and Platoon Duty Pay, and Educational Bonuses in the regular rate used for the purpose of calculating the amount of overtime due and owing to all Plaintiffs, including those covered non-exempt employees entitled to overtime as provided by Section 207(a) of the FLSA as well as those covered partially-exempt employees entitled to overtime as provided by Section 207(k) of the FLSA.

The plaintiffs are seeking three years back wages, liquidated damages, and attorneys fees and costs. Here is a copy of the complaint.